


Dark Destiny: Aftermath

by CraterM00n



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Trinity (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Demonic Possession, Gen, father-son bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 05:49:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15790215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CraterM00n/pseuds/CraterM00n
Summary: After the events of Trinity #12-15, Batman and Red Hood have a chat about some hurtful things said while Red Hood was possessed by the demons from the Pandora Pits.





	Dark Destiny: Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> I picked up Trinity Volume 3 and after reading it, I was immediately inspired to write this. It's pretty angsty and I hope I did a good job writing it. This is my first fic that I've actually published.
> 
> The first paragraph is what is actually in the book. I simply took the text from the speech bubbles and described what the characters were doing in the panels. 
> 
> Background for this story is that Circe (the Wonder Woman villain) and Ra's al Ghul have teamed up to siphon the powers of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman using something called the Pandora Pits. Anyone they push into them becomes a demonic slave to Circe. During the course of the story, Etrigan goes full demon, and Red Hood, Bizarro, Artemis, Deadman, and Zatanna all get possessed. Superman also gets possessed, but it was a little different because he was actually being possessed by a demonic Deadman, not the Pandora Pits directly. Batman ends up saving the others by temporarily stopping their hearts. Ra's eventually realizes that Circe is using him, and tries to kill her. The Trinity, the Outlaws, Zatanna, Deadman, and John Constantine save Circe and that's where the issue ends.

“Come out Jason. Let me help you.” Batman said, descending the stairs into the basement of the safe house, batarangs held between his knuckles.

“Help me?” Demon Red Hood snarled. “Admit it, Batman. You  _ wanted _ me dead. Because I wasn’t  _ him _ . Dick...Grayson… The first. Your only. We’ve all paled in comparison to him, haven’t we?”

“Where are you?” Batman mumbled to himself, rounding a corner.

“It wasn’t working. It wasn’t the same for you. Little Jason Todd… A rebound choice. Too  _ angry _ . Not how it was. I know what you  _ really _ felt when you found Jason’s body… Relief.”

“Shut up.” Hissed Batman.

“You save the others. You  _ always _ save them. It’s what Batman does. But you didn’t save me. Why did I die? I know the  _ real _ answer.” Red Hood leapt down from the ceiling and grabbed Batman’s chin. “You didn’t  _ wan _ t to save me.  _ You  _ are the true demon here. And you always  _ have _ been.”

 

_Several Hours Later:_

 

“B?” Red Hood said, approaching Batman.

“Yes Red Hood?” Batman said.

The Trinity, the Outlaws, as well as Zatanna, Deadman and John Constantine had just defeated Circe and Ra’s al Ghul. The rest of the heroes were working on loading the supervillains into the Batplane in order to turn them into the proper authorities.

“I wanted to talk,” Red Hood continued. “Ya know, about the things I said while I was possessed.”

“You remember what you said?” Batman asked, surprised.

“Vividly. It was like I was trapped in my own head with no control of what I said or did.”

“Hnn. I wonder why Superman didn’t remember what he did. Maybe it was because it was actually Brand that was possessed, and he was possessing Superman.”

“Makes sense.”

 

The two men exited the ice cave to gain a semblance of privacy. They trusted their teammates, but this was personal.

“I don’t actually hate you,” Red Hood began, “Not usually. I mean, I still wish you had the guts to kill a certain green-haired psycho, but I can live with your choices if you can live with mine.”

“I don’t approve of your methods,” Batman said, nodding. “ But I can’t control you. You are your own man.”

Red Hood laughed and then nodded. 

“Tell me though, Jason. Did you ever really see yourself as my second choice? Or less valuable than Dick?”

“Maybe a little. After I first had to work alongside him. You two, you worked so smoothly together. I felt like I was an extra piece. Unnecessary to the well-oiled, crime-fighting machine you were. That might’ve been part of why I acted out so much. I wanted to impress you. To show you that I was worth keeping around.”

“That was why you did that?”

“It was part of it. It was also me being passionate about certain types of crime, because of where I came from.”

Batman nodded. 

“Jason, you were never Dick’s replacement. When I found you that night in Crime Alley, I knew you needed my help. It turned out that what you needed was an outlet for all that pent up anger. In hindsight, maybe you needed another, less violent type of outlet to supplement it, but there’s no fixing that now.”

 

The two sat in silence for a few minutes as it began to snow.

“How did you really feel that day?” Red Hood said, breaking the silence. “When you found me after  _ he _ killed me?”

“I was devastated.” Batman confessed. “The boy I had brought into my home and raised was gone. There was nothing I could do about it.”

“You weren’t relieved?”

“Of course not! If I could’ve brought you back myself I would have.”

“Then what about Tim? He wasn’t an attempt to make a better Robin after I got myself killed?”

“Tim came to me. He somehow figured out our identities, mine and Dick’s, and noticed that I wasn’t the same after Robin ‘disappeared.’ He first tried to convince Dick to be Robin again, but when he refused, Tim volunteered.”

Red hood laughed. “That sounds like him. And you for that matter.”

Batman smiled. “He was right though. I was more brutal and less careful. You, all of you boys change me for the better. You encourage me to be better.”

“And don’t you forget that.” Red Hood said, gently punching Batman’s arm. “Let’s get back to work. I think the others are done putting Circe and Ra’s away. Let’s get out of this frozen wasteland.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to put something in there about how Batman had to literally kill Jason, albeit temporarily. I couldn't fit it in though. Maybe I'll write a sequel eventually.


End file.
